Laissez les bons temps rouler! Or Happy Mardi Gras! Of course, the entire Mardi Gras season began a month ago in New Orleans, but today is the biggest day of the entire period, culminating in the most prestigious parade, the appearance of the krewe of Rex, King of Carnival.
As homeschoolers, we are used to not only squeezing blood out of a stone, but the educational tidbits from the most anti-intellectual of experiences, and Mardi Gras is no exception. And, actually, it turns out that many of the parades do have themes with educational possibilities.
So it is with the big Rex parade that happens today. The theme of the 2012 procession is "Lore of the Ancient Americas," so many of the floats will depict myths and folk tales from a wide variety of Northern and Southern American native people. In fact, the krewe of Rex has even created a document that explains the topic of each float, along with links to versions of the story or other information that will help give the facts related to the subject. It's really quite a lovely list of different native American tales. And I suppose the floats are a unique approach to storytelling.
So to see the explanation for each of the floats (should you be watching the parade), or just to read about some traditional legends, check out the 2012 Rex Parade Notes.
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